UNITED STATES OF AMERICA DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY WASHINGTON, D.C. Issued by the Department of Transportation on July 3, 2014 NOTICE OF ACTION TAKEN – DOCKET DOT-OST-2014-0089 ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ This serves as notice to the public of the action described below, taken by the Department official indicated (no additional confirming order will be issued in this matter). Joint Applicants: JETBLUE AIRWAYS COPRORATION (JetBlue) and SINGAPORE AIRLINES LTD. (Singapore Airlines) Date Filed: May 28, 2014 Relief requested: A. Exemption under 49 USC §40109 to permit JetBlue to engage in scheduled foreign air transportation of persons, property, and mail between a point or points in the United States and Hong Kong. 1 B. Blanket statement of authorization under 14 CFR Part 212 to permit JetBlue to display Singapore Airlines’ SQ* designator code on JetBlue’s passenger flights between any point or points in the United States in conjunction with foreign air transportation of passengers held out by Singapore Airlines between any point or points in the Republic of Singapore (either nonstop or via intermediate points) and a point or points in the United States. C. Blanket statement of authorization under 14 CFR Part 212 to permit Singapore Airlines to display JetBlue’s B6* designator code on Singapore Airlines’ passenger flights between any point or points in the United States and any point or points in the Republic of Singapore (either nonstop or via intermediate points with local traffic rights). The Joint Applicants further request a waiver of the 45-day advance filing requirement under 14 CFR Part 212. Applicant representatives: Anita M. Mosner and Jennifer M. Nowak, 202-955-3000 (Singapore Airlines), & Jonathan B. Hill, J. Parker Erkmann, and Benjamin M. Berlin, 202-842-7800 (JetBlue) DOT analyst: David R. Christofano, 202-366-0584 Responsive pleadings: None DISPOSITION Action: Approved, subject to conditions Action date: July 3, 2014 Effective dates of authority granted: JetBlue’s exemption authority is effective from July 3, 2014, through July 3, 2016. The statements of authorization granted to the Joint Applicants are effective July 3, 2014, and will remain in effect for an indefinite duration, subject to conditions. Our action granting the joint applicants’ request for waiver of the 45-day advance filing requirement under 14 CFR Part 212 is effective July 3, 2014. Basis for approval (bilateral agreement/reciprocity): The Air Transport Agreement between the Government of the United States and the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China; the October 19, 2002, Memorandum of Understanding between the Government of the United States and the Government 1 JetBlue plans to place its B6* designator code on Singapore Airline’s flights between San Francisco and Hong Kong. of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China; and the Multilateral Agreement on the Liberalization of International Air Transport. Except to the extent exempted/waived, this authority is subject to the terms, conditions, and limitations of our standard U.S. carrier exemption conditions attached as Appendix A and code-share conditions attached as Appendix B. Special conditions/Remarks: We note that JetBlue has conducted a safety audit of Singapore Airlines under the Department’s Code-Share Safety Audit Program, and the FAA has advised us that it has reviewed the relevant audit report and found it to be acceptable. Action taken by: Paul L. Gretch, Director Office of International Aviation ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Under authority assigned by the Department in its regulations, 14 CFR Part 385, we found that (1) our action was consistent with Department policy; (2) the applicants were qualified to perform their proposed operations; (3) grant of the authority was consistent with the public interest; and (4) grant of the authority would not constitute a major regulatory action under the Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 1975. To the extent not granted, we denied all requests in the referenced Dockets. We may amend, modify, or revoke the authority granted in this Notice at any time without hearing at our discretion. Persons entitled to petition the Department for review of the action set forth in this Notice under the Department’s regulations, 14 CFR §385.30, may file their petitions within seven (7) days after the date of issuance of this Notice. This action was effective when taken, and the filing of a petition for review will not alter such effectiveness. An electronic version of this document is available on the World Wide Web at: http://www.regulations.gov Appendix A U.S. Carrier Exemption Conditions In the conduct of the operations authorized, the U.S. carrier applicant(s) shall: (1) Hold at all times effective operating authority from the government of each country served; (2) Comply with applicable requirements concerning oversales contained in 14 CFR 250 (for scheduled operations, if authorized); (3) Comply with the requirements for reporting data contained in 14 CFR 241; (4) Comply with requirements for minimum insurance coverage, and for certifying that coverage to the Department, contained in 14 CFR 205; (5) Except as specifically exempted or otherwise provided for in a Department Order, comply with the requirements of 14 CFR 203, concerning waiver of Warsaw Convention liability limits and defenses; (6) Comply with all applicable requirements of the Federal Aviation Administration, the Transportation Security Administration, and with all applicable U.S. Government requirements concerning security, including, but not limited to, 49 CFR Part 1544. To assure compliance with all applicable U.S. Government requirements concerning security, the holder shall, before commencing any new service (including charter flights) to or from a foreign airport, contact its Principal Security Inspector (PSI) to advise the PSI of its plans and to find out whether the Transportation Security Administration has determined that security is adequate to allow such airport(s) to be served; (7) Comply with such other reasonable terms, conditions, and limitations required by the public interest as may be prescribed by the Department of Transportation, with all applicable orders and regulations of other U.S. agencies and courts, and with all applicable laws of the United States. The authority granted shall be effective only during the period when the holder is in compliance with the conditions imposed above. 1/2008 Appendix B The code-share operations authorized here are subject to the following conditions: (a) The statements of authorization will remain in effect only as long as (i) JetBlue and Singapore Airlines continue to hold the necessary underlying authority to operate the code-share services at issue, and (ii) the code-share agreement providing for the code-share operations remains in effect. (b) JetBlue and Singapore Airlines must promptly notify the Department (Office of International Aviation) if the codeshare agreement providing for the code-share operations is no longer effective or if the carriers decide to cease operating all or a portion of the approved code-share services. Such notices should be filed in Docket DOT-OST2014-0089. 1 (c) JetBlue and Singapore Airlines must notify the Department no later than 30 days before they begin any new codeshare service under the code-share services authorized here. Such notice shall identify the market(s) to be served, which carrier will be operating the aircraft in the code-share market added, and the date on which the service will begin. Such notices should be filed in Docket DOT-OST-2014-0089. 2 (d) The code-sharing operations conducted under this authority must comply with 14 CFR 257 and with any amendments to the Department’s regulations concerning code-share arrangements that may be adopted. Notwithstanding any provisions in the contract between the carriers, our approval here is expressly conditioned upon the requirements that the subject foreign air transportation be sold in the name of the carrier holding out such service in the computer reservation systems and elsewhere; that the carrier selling such transportation (i.e., the carrier shown on the ticket) accept responsibility for the entirety of the code-share journey for all obligations established in its contract of carriage with the passenger; that the passenger liability of the operating carrier be unaffected; and that the operating carrier shall not permit the code of its U.S. code-sharing partner to be carried on any flight that enters, departs, or transits the airspace of any area for whose airspace the Federal Aviation Administration has issued a flight prohibition. (e) Any service provided shall be consistent with all applicable agreements between the United States and the foreign countries involved. Furthermore, (i) nothing in the award of the blanket statements of authorization should be construed as conferring upon JetBlue rights (including code-share, fifth-freedom intermediate and/or beyond rights) to serve markets where U.S. carrier rights are limited unless JetBlue notifies us of its intent to serve such a market and unless and until the Department has completed any necessary carrier selection procedures to determine which carrier(s) should be authorized to exercise such rights; 3 and (ii) should there be a request by any carrier to use the limited-entry route rights that are included in the authority of JetBlue by virtue of the blanket statements of authorization granted here, but that are not being used by JetBlue, the holding of such authority will not be considered as providing any preference for JetBlue in a carrier selection proceeding to determine which carrier(s) should be entitled to use the authority at issue; (f) The authority granted here is specifically conditioned so that neither JetBlue nor Singapore Airlines shall give any force or effect to any contractual provisions between themselves that are contrary to these conditions. We may amend, modify, or revoke the authority granted at any time without hearing at our discretion. 1 We expect this notification to be received within 10 days of such non-effectiveness or of such decision. Consistent with the Department's Notice in the Matter of Blanket Notification of Code-Share Service to Open-Skies Partners and Points, dated February 9, 2009, the joint applicants provided blanket notice of their intent to engage in code-share services between open skies points. JetBlue and Singapore Airlines state that they will notify the Department no later than 30 days before commencing any codeshare services to non-open skies points. 3 The notice referenced in condition (c) above may be used for this notification. 2